Metal Gear Solid: no friend left behind
by Advisor01
Summary: Simple code of honor. I watch your back and you watch mine. Marcus always stood by his friends helping them anyway he could. When he is sent to aid Snake on a certain mission in 1964 his life will take an unexpected turn in a way he could have never have imagined.
1. ACT1: Loyal to the end Ch1: Briefing

**Disclaimer: I don't own Metal gear series. Kojima does.**

 **The Briefing**

In north carolina at Fort bragg a man was arranging the myriad of boxes and containers inside a storage room, to him this was simply a way to pass the time in the base. He was there really as an advisor training the local US soldiers in strategies and tactics of unconventional and counter-insurgency warfare.

The man had a green colored 'blurred edge' camo with a hooded jacket and on his head he had a white beret with a winged dagger signifying him to be a member of the British SAS.

In truth however he was an american sent by some high ups to be a part of a squad of very special individuals taken from around the world with his placement in SAS being a cover to mask the involvement of the US in 1940.

To say that he was completely normal would be a lie. He looked like he was only 19 or 20 years old even though he was already 43 years of age. He had senses and reflexes which while not quite super human were still something that unlike him no one could normally be born with.

'Finally done I think I should take a break,' thought the guy as he turned around.

To his surprise he came face to face with a blond haired woman in her early forties. One he knew very well as his squad leader during the second world war.

"Boss," he said quickly acknowledging her presence.

"Marcus," greeted the boss calmly.

Motioning him to follow her the pair left the storage room Marcus pulls out a cigar out of his pocket and lights it, they walk to corridor where she stops and turns around.

"Since when have you started to smoke cigars?" asked the boss folding her arms.

"John wanted me to try one out and god damn these are good. That guy has a good taste at least when it comes to smokes," answers Marcus smiling and can sees a faint smile on her face as well.

"How has Jack been doing"? Asked the boss.

"He's been doing ok but you leaving has obviously affected him," said Marcus. At that boss looks down as if little bit ashamed about the fact that she left.

"Anyway what brought you here"? At that boss lifted her gaze to look at Marcus.

"I was finally able to get the CIA give us a mission, if we succeed the Director will make the FOX unit official," told the boss. Marcus was surprised the agency had been very reluctant about giving the green light to FOX unit.

"I'm guessing that getting the DCI's green light wasn't easy," said Marcus.

"Yeah it wasn't," replied the boss.

"So anyway what is this mission that you are supposed to handle"? Asked Marcus curious as he took another drag from his cigar.

"It's one of Zero's loose ends. They'll be expecting you to the briefing," said boss convincingly.

At that Marcus' eyes widened, "You want me to be part of it"? he asked surprised.

"Consider this as me calling in that debt you owed me for saving your ass back at egypt," said the boss as she smiled.

Marcus let out an amused 'Hmph' as he smiled, "Alright I'll do it, just point the way."

 **Sometime later in an undisclosed location**

"Jack I've got some important news. The head of the CIA has finally given us a green light for the Virtuous mission," told Major Zero to Jack who was sitting on an armchair smoking a cuban cigar.

"Virtual mission?" asked Jack confused.

"No the Virtuous mission, the future of the Fox unit depends on it, if it succeeds we'll be officially organised into a unit," clarified the Major .

"Virtuous mission, sounds like some sort of an initiation ritual," commented Jack with a hint of amusement under his tone.

"Now don't get cocky this isn't a training op," replied Zero seriously.

Just as Jack was about to say something the door opened and Marcus walked in.

"Sorry I'm late I hope I didn't miss anything important," said Marcus.

"Don't worry we just started," assured Zero.

"OK anyway so what is this wonderful mission," asked John.

"Well about two years a go certain soviet scientist asked for an asylum in the west through one of our moles. His name is Nikolai Stephanovich Sokolov," started Zero.

"The Rocket scientist"? Asked Marcus curiously.

"The very same, he is the head of OKB-754 design bureau, one of the soviets most top secret weapon research facilities and the east's foremost expert on weapons development," explained Zero.

"On april 12th soviets achieved the first manned space flight in history," said Zero

"The earth was blue. but there was no god," said John quoting the now famous pilot.

"Well spoken. The rocket that carried Yuri Gagarin into orbit was the A1, known as the vostok rocket. Sokolov is said to be the man most responsible for the multi-engine cluster used in that rocket. After Gagarin's flight sokolov left the rocket development to become the head of the newly established Design bureau," told Zero.

"From a lowly technician to a head of a design bureau," commented John mildly impressed.

"Quite a rapid career advancement so why would he want to defect"? Asked Marcus.

"It seems that he'd become afraid of his own creations," told Zero.

"Afraid"? Repeated John in confusion.

"Call it a crisis of conscience," clarified Zero.

"And for that he left his country and his family to go over the fence?" asked John.

"Not exactly. One of his conditions was that his family was also to be taken safely to the west. We used a mole to get his family out first then and succeeded in sneaking Sokolov over the Berlin wall shortly afterwards I was the one who conducted the operation," told Zero.

"The security on the eastern side was till full of holes back then. Then what?" replied John with a question.

"We got Sokolov over in one piece, but the whole ordeal had left him exhausted, and we checked him into a hospital in west Berlin. It took him 2 weeks and 600 miles to reach from the research lab in the Soviet union to west Berlin, he was in no shape to say anything coherent," Major said before pausing for a moment.

"And it was only a week later that we had something bigger in our hands," said Zero. The faces of the two FOX operators suddenly turned very serious knowing exactly what that 'something bigger' Zero referred to was.

"The Cuban Missile crisis," said John voicing the name of the event.

Marcus remembered it well after all who wouldn't, humanity almost blew itself up. The US discovered soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba. After US demand on removing the Nukes from Cuba was rejected and instead lead to the Soviets increasing the readiness of their armed forces both sides prepared for a full scale nuclear war but thankfully negotiations through the UN and otherwise was able to prevent any nuclear exchange. The soviets pulled their missiles out of Cuba and in exchange US would pull theirs out of turkey.

"No. The Jupiter IRBMs deployed in Turkey were obsolete and we were going to get rid of them anyway. They had no strategic value whatsoever to either the US or the Russians. The Turkey deal was a ruse - a cover story that was fed to the other intelligence agencies around the world," told Zero.

"So what did the Russians really want"? Asked John. Marcus too was curious he had heard rumors of the Turkey deal being a ruse but could never find out what the russians really want "Sokolov. They wanted us to return Sokolov," answered Zero.

The two operators looked at each other shocked and surprised.

Soon John put both of their thoughts into words, "You mean the Soviets pulled out of Cuba just to get their hands on Sokolov"?

"That's right," said Zero confirming their suspicions.

"What was so Important about him that they were willing to sacrifice Cuba to get him back to the east," asked Marcus still shocked about the revelations.

"At the time we had no idea. We were running out of time. It was either give up Sokolov or risk full-scale nuclear war. In the end, we had no choice. President Kennedy gave into Khrushchev's demand. The next day, I got Sokolov out of the hospital and handed him over to agents on the eastern side. Sokolov kept on screaming "Save me!" until he disappeared from my sight," told Zero.

"Then, a month ago, we received some new information from one of our moles," said Zero

"About Sokolov"? Asked John

"Yes. He was taken back to the research facility and forced to continue working on the weapon in question under KGB supervision. What's more, it's on the verge of completion," told Zero.

"So? What kind of weapon is it? Something to do with space rockets"? Asked John curious.

"No, missiles," answered Zero.

"Same technology," replied Jack.

"I guess you're right. We don't know the details but it appears to be a new kind of nuclear device. For a year now the Soviets have been conducting frequent nuclear tests at Semipaiatinsk,"

"Something to do with the weapon I assume," stated Jack.

We're talking about a secret weapon so big that Khrushchev was ready to pull out of Cuba to get it back,

"Is Sokolov still in the facility?" asked Jack.

No. According to our intelligence, he's in Tselinoyarsk, a place in the mountains about 3 miles to the west that's known as the Virgin Cliffs.

"The Virgin Cliffs. Nice name for a Virtuous mission," remarked John.

"They moved him there just recently"

"Why?" asked John.

"Apparently they're conducting a field test of the weapon. But it's our best chance to get him back. This mission would never have been possible if he were still in the research facility. This is our last chance. Sokolov must have known that, too, when he contacted us," answered Zero.

"Marcus you will be covertly inserted to Tselinoyarsk. Your task is to observe the enemy and inform us of their movements and other actions," said Zero

"Sounds easy enough," thought Marcus out loud.

"Oh and the only weapon allowed with you will be your knife," said Zero.

At that Marcus' eyes widened and he turned to face Zero shock apparent on his face.

"Only a Knife," repeated Marcus unsure if he had heard it right.

"That's right," confirmed Zero.

Sighing Marcus merely replied, "Alright, When do I leave"?

"As soon as you can reach the airport, there is a plane already waiting for you there," answered Zero.

"OK and John I'll see you in Russia," said Marcus to which John merely smiled and lifted his hand as a gesture of goodbye.

 **Tselinoyarsk 3 days later**

Marcus was crawling on the ground surrounded by grass with a stolen AK-47 in his hands he was dressed in his usual combat gear that included british paratrooper helmet with goggles and the FOX standard STABO harness. His trip to the Virgin cliffs had so far been uneventful crossing over Soviet-pakistan border was a simple matter and only some lightly armed guards were here and there some of whom he took down with CQC.

CQC was something that he loved and hated at the same time but mostly loved. It is very useful tool during operations and it's rudimentary form had proven to be effective during World war 2. Buy when he, The Boss and John had started to develop it into a coherent Martial art style they had to beat it into each other and that was something he didn't really want to experience again. Marcus chuckled and winced at the memories of the trio throwing punches, kicks and other moves on each other.

Soon he saw a wooden bridge crossing a river surrounded by cliffs.

"This is Cobra 7 I have reached the target area," said Marcus or 'Cobra 7' as was his nom de guerre.

"Excellent our man is just about to make his jump," came Zero's calm voice through the radio.

Soon through the radio came an announcement "Countdown 5, 4, 3, 2, 1," then the voice changed to that of Zero's, "Spread your wings and fly god be with you," was said and Marcus knew that John had jumped out of the plane. The First halo jump in history.

Snapping himself out of his thoughts Marcus turned his thoughts to the mission at hand and decided to take a look a round before John would touchdown.

 **Here it is, Kind of a boring chapter but I think it was important that I the briefing. Anyway**

 **Fave, Follow, Review.**


	2. ACT1: Ch2: Virtuous mission Insertion

**The Virtuous Mission: Insertion**

 **Air space of Tselinoyarsk**

Feeling the wind blowing at him as he decended John kept his eyes towards the surface. Pulling a line on his shoulder he was soon yanked back up as his parachute openned up.

"Once we have confirmed the rescue of Sokolov, stand by at the recovery point. A recovery balloon will be dropped to that point," came the voice of Zero through the Radio.

"Helium will be pumped into the balloon to inflate it. The process takes about 20 minutes. Once it's the gunship's arm will latch onto the balloon and pull it up," John listened as Zero explained the method which he would use to exfiltrate the mission area.

"The fulton surface to air recovery system I'm familiar with the theory," said John with an uncertain tone.

"Don't worry I have tested it and I can safelly say it works like a charm," reassured Marcus who was already on the mission area.

"Do you think Sokolov is up to it"? asked John.

"The shock will be less than during a parachute jump and arm can handle at least 500 pounds," assured Zero calmlly.

"So you are planning on going over the border in a single combat talon," stated John.

"She is equipped with two 6-barrel 20 millimeter vulcan cannons and two 40 millimeter machine guns," listed Zero the weaponry of their gunship.

"Sounds like it could hold on her own against a battalion of tanks," commented John.

"Even with the fuel in the reserve tank we are facing a forty hour time limit, If all goes well it should only take couple of hours," told Zero.

"Home in time for dinner," replied snake smiling.

 **On The Ground**

Creeping behind a KGB soldier Marcus stood up grabbed the man by his throat and pushed him down to the ground with the back of his head making impact on the ground first, then his back. The impact to his skull and diaphragm being too much and he lost consciousness.

Moving forward crouched Marcus soon came upon the abandoned factory where Sokolov was supposedly being held.

"Our man has landed, I repeat he is on the ground," came the voice of zero through the radio.

 **Dremuchij south**

Seeking to conseal himself John took a position behind a tree kneeled down and flipped a switch on his radio.

"Do you copy? You are already in enemy territory, and somebody might already be listening in. From here on out we use code names to refer to each other. Your code name will be Naked Snake i will refer to you as snake from now on, You are not to mention your real name" told Zero to Snake.

"Snake"? Asked snake in a confused manner.

"Well you have eaten one before haven't you"? asked the Major.

"In survival training but I'm not sure if I ever ordered one in a restaurant," pointed Snake out before Marcus cut in.

"I don't think we are really going to have a choice Snake," came through the radio.

"What about you Major? What should i call you"? Asked Snake.

"Hmm... Let's see I'll be Tom. Call me Major Tom," Major replies.

"This will be a sneaking mission. You must not be seen by the enemy. You must leave no trace of your presence This kind of infiltration is the Fox unit's speciality. In other words weapons and equipment are procure on-site… that goes for food as well. You are completely naked just as your name implies," explained Major the situation to Snake.

"Now I see why you asked if I like snakes I guess calling me a Snake was your idea of a joke, too," replied Snake iritated.

"No there was a good reason for that I'll tell you later, when the time is right," responded Major rather solemly.

"Gotcha. Getting back on the subject how exactly am I supposed to feed myself"? Asked Snake who's opinion on the current situation was rapidly deteriorating.

"Well there are animals in the grass, mushrooms on the ground and fruits in the trees I think those should do just fine, afterall you should have a tranqulizer gun and a knife in your backpack," answered Marcus this time.

"Yeah about the backpack I lost it in a tree on the way down," replied Snake awkwardly.

Marcus gringed at that, he couldn't begin to count how many people had lost their lives because they had lost their weapons pack on their way down during D-Day.

"I see well you better go back and get it then. You know where it is?" responded the Major.

"No problem I can see the tree it's stuck on a branch," said Snake leaning to see the backpack stuck on a bare tree.

"Go get it back and we will call you back once you have recovered your backpack," said the Major.

In no time was snake able to climb the tree and recover his backpack. After tying it back into its place Snake's earpiece rang.

"I see you have retrieved your backpack Snake. In addition to the weapons you also have some food and medical supplies," said the Major.

"Got it"! Replied Snake understanding.

"Survival is fundamental to this mission. After a while you will star to get exhausted and your combat effectiveness will be reduced you can hunt for local flora and fauna for you to eat. You can use either your tranquilizer gun or your knife to hunt," explained Zero.

"My only weapon is an Mk22 Hush Puppy tranquilizer gun"? Asked Snake incredulously.

"That's right. It's been fitted with it's own suppressor. However, the suppressor will deteriorate every time you fire. Once its durability reaches zero, the noise suppression effect will be gone. So don't get too trigger happy with it. The suppressor's durability is shown in the icon. Any weapons

and equipment beyond what you're carrying now, you'll have to find as you go," explained the Major.

"I have to find my own weapons and equipment? Whose crazy idea was this anyway"? Asked Snake.

"Solo covert actions are standard FOX operating procedure. You can't leave any traces of your presence. Your presence in enemy territory is already a violation of international conventions of warfare. There aren't supposed to be any American soldiers in Russia. It could spark an international incident. You can't let the enemy see you. You can't let the enemy know you're there. This is a stealth mission. You're a ghost, Snake, in every sense of the word. There'll be no rescue if you're captured. The military and the US government will deny any involvement in the affair," explained the Major their situation to Snake.

"Then I'll just have to take care of myself, huh." stated Snake.

"I'm afraid so. You've been given a "fake death" pill for that purpose. SIS guidelines stipulate that soldiers on covert ops like this one be issued a potassium cyanide capsule. Tape it to your body so you can take it when you need to," told the Major.

"How generous of you," replied Snake rather sarcastically.

"Use it if you're taken prisoner by the enemy. It'll send you into a state of false death for a short time," explained the Major.

" ...fooling them into thinking I'm really dead. So how do I come back to

life again"? Asked Snake.

"Just take the revival pill," said the Major

"You mean that thing they put in my tooth before the mission"? Asked Snake remembering the one of many reasons why he hated dentist.

"That's the one. But be careful. If you remain in a state of false death for too long, nothing will be able to bring you back. Remember that," warned the Major.

"I'll keep it in mind. You said this was a solo mission, right"? Asked Snake.

"Right," replied the Major

"I guess that means I can't count on any reinforcements," stated Snake.

"Correct. The mission rests entirely in your hands," confirmed the Major.

"A real one-man army," remarked Snake sarcastically.

"Relax, there's a support team ready to back you up over the radio," assured the Major.

"Who"? Asked snake curious.

"I'll introduce them to you. This time, survival is of the utmost importance. The first member of the support team will be in charge of monitoring your physical condition - acting a medic, so to speak - as well as recording your mission data. She's a member of FOX as well and she's here on the gunship with me," explained the Major.

"She"? Asked Snake surprised.

"Hello, Snake. I'm Para-Medic. Nice to meet you.

"Para...Medic"? Wondered Snake.

"As in a medic who comes in by parachute," clarified Para-Medic.

"Aren't you going to tell me your real name"? Asked Snake.

"Are you going to tell me yours, Mr. Snake"? Replied Para-Medic.

"My name, huh... It's John Doe," answered Snake.

"And they call you Jack for short? You're a regular Captain Nemo," remarked Para-Medic

"A name means nothing on the battlefield. After a week, no one has a

name. What's your name"? Asked Snake.

"Jane Doe," answered Para-medic.

"Very funny," replied Snake.

"I wasn't joking but I'll tell you my name only if you manage to make it back alive. My frequency is 145.73," told Para-Medic.

"By the way Snake my freq is 142.45 call me if you need some on-site intel I am a little a head of you," told Marcus who suddenly dropped in to the conversation.

"Ok," was the simple reply.

"She's also in charge of recording your mission data. Whenever you want to SAVE, SEND a message over the reserved SAVE frequency, 140.96." added Zero.

"So saving lets me record my mission data"? Asks Snake curiously.

"That's right. It also records your state of health," added the Major.

"Good to know," said Snake.

"There's one more person I want to introduce you to, Snake," said the Major.

"Speaking of snakes, you remember The Boss, don't you? A legendary soldier

and your mentor. Actually, it was The Boss that got the DCI's authorization in

the first place. She's going to be serving as FOX's mission advisor," revealed the Major.

"The Boss is?" blruted out Snake shocked and surprised.

"She also helped me plan this mission. She, Marcus and I were at SAS together," said the Major

"Jack, is that you? How many years has it been?" came the Boss' voice through the Radio.

 **Sorry this took too long! I was a bit of sick a while. But anyway here it is.**


End file.
